Lil Sis's second husband is a good ten or twelve years younger than she is (I'm terrible with remembering the YEAR someone was born - which is why the name and year is written down in that square of the calendar). Your Snarky Aunt would have her head explode!

The aunt probably still think the OP is a child and by extention, anybody her age. Relatives my parents age still think I'm a little girl (or at least a teenager) even though I'm technically old enough to be a grandmother. It's especially true for the kind of relatives who don't see extended family often. If the OP's aunt really think about the facts and not with emotions, hopefully she'll realise how silly she's being. Hopefully.

My ex-fiancÚ was 41 and I was just shy of 23 when we met; and 18 1/2 year age difference for anyone who doesn't care to do the math. We were together for 7 1/2 years, and eventually separated for reasons entirely unrelated to our ages.

I am 34 now and my DF is "only" 5 3/4 years older than me.

But I suppose FWIW I've never dated a widower, if that's Snarky Aunt's issue. I have heard that sometimes the bereaved do re-enter the dating world though.

If it hadn't been the age, there would have been something for Aunt to get upset over. Aunt likes carrots, L likes green beans: any excuse will do. She's made up her mind to be unhappy over the new relationship.

I have a friend who is married to a guy some thirty years older than she is - if you really want Snarky Aunt's head to explode - look up famous couples with large age differences.....and send her the photos. Especially if they are showing off a new baby with Dad being old enough to be Granddad!

To answer your question, no some people cannot be happy. Ever. For any reason.10 years would only make a difference if one of them were not over 18. IMHO.

A dear member of my own family and his spouse separated and divorced. It was actually a mutual decision and an amicable split. There are no children involved and all property was split right down the middle. Now, he has a GF, many years after the divorce was finalized, and there are members of the family that are just so outraged. How DARE he start dating. Uhm , huh?

Also, my Grandmother was going on and on about a deceased cousin not having a headstone after being buried about 2 years and in the next breath she said, "oh and her husband is dating again and she's not even cold yet!" I mean,

Logged

"Oh people can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that" - Homer Simpson